A fantastic bit of space age funk – and maybe one of the greatest moments ever from Philly Soul maestro Dexter Wansel! The album goes way beyond any of Wansel's other work – and blends his warm soulful styles with some of the more keyboard-oriented funk that was coming out of the Herbie Hancock camp during the mid 70s – a vibe that's every bit as electric and spacey as you'd guess from the cover! Some cuts have a bit more of a soul focus, but others have loads of jazzy keyboards from Dexter – driven on by some great drums at points too. Titles include Wansel's legendary version of "Theme From the Planets" with the much sampled breakbeat at the beginning – plus the funky "Life On Mars", and the tracks "One Million Miles From The Ground", "You Can Be What You Wanna Be", "Prophet Named KG", "Rings Of Saturn", and "Stargazer". LP, Vinyl record album

Masterpiece records from Philly soul maestro Dexter Wansel – stepping out here in a beautiful blend of jazz and soul! Life On Mars is a fantastic bit of space age funk, easily the best album that Wansel ever recorded – and a sublime blend of Wansel's Philly grooving sensibility with some of the more keyboard-oriented funk that was coming out of the Herbie Hancock camp during the mid 70s. The result is a tight batch of crossover tracks that work well both as jazz funk groovers, and as smoother modern soul tracks. Includes the version of "Theme From the Planets" with the much sampled breakbeat at the beginning – plus lots of other nice ones, including "Life On Mars", "Rings Of Saturn", and "Stargazer". What The World Is Coming To moves the focus back to soul a bit more than Life On Mars – but also keeps in plenty of jazzy touches! Dexter's groove here is similar to the best work he did with other Philly vocalists in the same time – and the set features guest vocals from Jean Carn and Terri Wells, sliding into a warmly soulful realm on the mellower tracks, and stepping out with a fully jazzed up groove on the more upbeat numbers. Titles include "What The World Is Coming To", "Dreams Of Tomorrow", "Holdin On", "Dance With Me Tonight", "Disco Lights", and "Prelude #1". 1978's Voyager is a bit like Dexter's space jazz classic Life On Mars – and with those fat, thumping bass lines, elastic lead guitar, atmospheric soul vocals and loads and loads of keys – spatial work on Rhodes, Moogs and ARPs! It's all done in a funky style not always heard on Philly – plus Dexter arranged and produced just about everything! Tracks include "Solutions", "Voyager", "I'm In Love", "Latin Love", and "I Just Want To Love You". 1979's Time Is Slipping Away is a straighter Philly soul outing than some of Wansel's earlier work – a nice batch from a talent that was responsible for crafting some of the best smooth modern numbers at the end of the 70s! It features the killer cut "The Sweetest Pain" – a smooth stepper with some subtle keyboard grooving behind warm female vocals by Terri Well – plus "Funk Attack", "New Beginning", "One For the Road", "It's Been Cool", and "I'll Never Forget (My Favorite Disco)". CD

Dexter Wansel keeps up the space jazz funk groove that was begun on Life On Mars – with those fat, thumping bass lines, elastic lead guitar, atmospheric soul vocals and loads and loads of keys – spatial work on Rhodes, Moogs and ARPs! It's all done in a funky style not always heard on Philly! Dexter arranged and produced just about everything – and cuts include "All Night Long", "Voyager", "Solutions", "Latin Love", and "Time Is The Teacher". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant work from Philly arranger Dexter Wansel – an album that moves the focus back to soul a bit more than on his Life On Mars set, but which also keeps in plenty of jazzy touches! Dexter's groove here is similar to the best work he did with other Philly vocalists in the same time – and the set features guest vocals from Jean Carn and Terri Wells, sliding into a warmly soulful realm on the mellower tracks, and stepping out with a fully jazzed up groove on the more upbeat numbers. Titles include "What The World Is Coming To", "Dreams Of Tomorrow", "Holdin On", "Dance With Me Tonight", "Disco Lights", and "Prelude #1". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic bit of space age funk – and maybe one of the greatest moments ever from Philly Soul maestro Dexter Wansel! The album goes way beyond any of Wansel's other work – and blends his warm soulful styles with some of the more keyboard-oriented funk that was coming out of the Herbie Hancock camp during the mid 70s – a vibe that's every bit as electric and spacey as you'd guess from the cover! Some cuts have a bit more of a soul focus, but others have loads of jazzy keyboards from Dexter – driven on by some great drums at points too. Titles include Wansel's legendary version of "Theme From the Planets" with the much sampled breakbeat at the beginning – plus the funky "Life On Mars", and the tracks "One Million Miles From The Ground", "You Can Be What You Wanna Be", "Prophet Named KG", "Rings Of Saturn", and "Stargazer". LP, Vinyl record album

Five years of amazing sounds from Dexter Wansel – a keyboardist who could be as far out as his fiercest fusion contemporaries of the 70s, yet also groove with enough soulful styles to be a key part of the Philadelphia International explosion of the 70s! This massive collection really gets at all that made Wansel so great back in the day – his incredible ear for inventive arrangements, spacey way of spinning out a soul tune, and great sense of balance that never made his music sound overdone – always an effortless blend of jazz, soul, and funk – in ways that few of his contemporaries could ever hope to touch! Many of these tunes have vocals, but they also have plenty of keyboard solos too – kind of like CTI hitting a Philly groove, but one that was definitely reserved for the hipper spaces of the clubs – or the hipper clubs out there in outer space. 2CD set features great notes, sublime sound, and a killer batch of 32 tracks that includes "Life On Mars", "Disco Lights", "Let Me Rock You", "I'll Never Forget My Favorite Disco (12" version)", "The Sweetest Pain", "Holdin On", "One Million Miles From The Ground", "Rings Of Saturn", "Theme From The Planets", "Funk Attack", "Stargazer", "Ode Infinitum", "Latin Love", "Let Me Rock You", "Holdin On", "Prelude 1", "New Beginning", "Time Is The Teacher", "A Prophet Named KG", "I Just Want To Love You", "All Night Long", "It's Been Cool", "Voyager", and "Time Is Slipping Away". CD

One of Lou's classics for Philly International – a warm mix of smooth soul and adult vocals, handled with some great arrangements by Dexter Wansel and Thom Bell. There's less standout singles on this set than previous Philly records, but Lou's class and quality makes nearly every track come out wonderfully – a masterpiece of soulful understatement and grace. Titles include "We Keep Getting Closer To Being Further Apart", "Time Will Take Care Of Everything", "What's The Matter With The World", "Bark Bite", and "Lover's Holiday". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Jean's classic Philly albums, recorded after she left Doug Carn, and started to make records as a solo artist. The record's got stellar production by Gamble & Huff and Dexter Wansel, and features a nice mix of up-tempo cuts and mellow ones. With the monster "Don't Let it Go to Your Head", and the mix of "Revelation" and "Infant Eyes" that she recorded earlier with Doug Carn. Other cuts include "(No, No) You Can't Come Back Now", "Together Once Again", and "I Bet She Won't Love You Like I Do". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic Jones Girls for Philly! The record's a landmark album in the shift from Philly disco to sophisticated modern – and the smooth tight vocals of The Jones Girls are to the latter half of Philly what the runaway singing of Three Degrees were to the early half. Includes their excellent remake of the Stylistics' "Children of the Night" – which has a cool sample riff on the intro – plus the cuts "I Just Love The Man", "When I'm Gone", "At Peace With Woman", and "Back In the Day". One of the best female records on Philly International, and with excellent work by Dexter Wansel and Kenny Gamble! LP, Vinyl record album

A killer album from the Philly funky studio combo MFSB – a set from the start of the 80s, and one that really has the group going for a new direction forward – even though they were such an inspirational act for many back in the previous decade! Gone are the string-heavy disco arrangements of earlier years, and in their place are some excellent jazz funk grooves – mostly penned by Dexter Wansel, who produced a good bit of the album with a similar style to his best space funk records of the late 70s! A few cuts feature vocals, but the best bits are instrumental – and have some excellent keyboards, great guitar, and plenty of fresh jazzy playing – on tracks that include "Fortune Teller", "Manhattan Skyline", "Mysteries Of The World", "Metamorphosis", and "In The Shadow". LP, Vinyl record album

Heavy funk from around the globe – and a volume of this series that seems even more focused on classic cuts than contemporary ones – all pulled together in a wicked blend of sounds from Africa, South America, Australia, and even American scenes in Texas and Florida too! There's a solidly 70s vibe throughout – and even the few newer numbers have a sound that stands strongly alongside the older numbers – a vibe so rich we'll forgive the cover (and the series) for its slightly pandering title – and just get on with the work of digging the music in the grooves! Highlights include some great covers – Cymande's "Brothers On The Slide" by Sonny Benton & The Typhoons, Dexter Wansel's "Life On Mars" by Antipodelica, and Donny Hathaway's classic "Valdez In The Country" by The Cuba Libre All-Stars – and other titles include "Black Rite" by Mkali Bahari Orchesra, "Razor Blade" by The Sentinels, "Rotation" by Toshio Asukataei, "The Gold Coast" by Coconut 74, "Buckingham Palace" by Glenn Eden Set, and "Sao Paulo" by Nova Catalina Octet. LP, Vinyl record album

Miles Jaye once played the cop in the Village People, but don't hold that against him – because by the time of this debut set, he'd really crafted his style as a soul singer – which makes the record a key part of a new trend in male soul for the late 80s! Jaye's got a cool, sophisticated style – one that gets some nice warm touches on the arrangement and production, which include lots of touches from Miles himself – plus help from luminaries like Dexter Wansel, Hubert Eaves, and Branford Marsalis. Titles include "Lazy Love", "Special Thing", "I've Been A Fool For You", "Desiree", "Happy 2 Have U", "Come Home", "I Cry For You", and "Let's Start Love Over". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from this legendary vocal trio! The Jones Girls were probably one of the best female acts to ever hit the Philly International stable – really a cut above their contemporaries, and not just one of those acts that was kind of a backup singer set, come forward! Their vocals are sublime – richly complicated, and with a maturity that really comes through on this set – a record that has them grooving away nicely in a sophisticated style that's only matched by some of the other male groups on Philly International. Cuts include the classic club tracks "This Feeling's Killing Me" and "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else" – plus "I'm At Your Mercy", "We're A Melody", "Who Can I Run To", and "Life Goes On". Great production by Dexter Wansel & Gamble and Huff! LP, Vinyl record album

A classic set of spacey club from Mandre – aka Andre Lewis – an artist we'd place right up there with some of the best cosmic sounds from Dexter Wansel at the time, and maybe even some of the more space-bound club artists of the European scene as well! The album's got some wonderful keyboards throughout – heard in a mostly instrumental mode on side one, save for a great track that includes vocals from Maxayn – and as the set rolls along, things get more confident, more groove-oriented, and pick up some bassier rhythms that fit in wonderfully with Mandre's overall conception! The album's got a fuzzy, trippy sound you'd hardly expect from late 70s Motown – and the whole thing's been an underground club classic for years – with cuts that include the sublime "Solar Flight (Opus I)" and "Third World Calling (Opus II)", plus "Keep Tryin", "Masked Music Man", "Wonder What I'd Do", "Money", "Dirty Love", and "Masked Marauder". LP, Vinyl record album

16 tracks from the Jones Girls, Jean Carn, Dee Dee Sharp, Patti Labelle, Frantique, Dexter Wansel, Phyllis Hyman, Shirley Jones, and MFSB. CD

Sublime smooth soul from Jean Carn – who by this point has really honed her act into a polished one, perfect for the rising modern soul groove of late Philly. The record features production by Jerry Butler, Dexter Wansel, and Eddie Levert – but Jean unites the whole thing with her mature sense of poise, and her warm and loving vocals on classic cuts like "My Love Don't Come Easy", "Was That All It Was", and "When I Find You Love". A real gem – and another winner for one of soul music's greatest ladies! LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic tribute to the great Jean Carne – a singer who started out in jazz, working with then-husband Doug Carn on spiritual sessions and drummer Norman Connors on his soulful sides of the 70s – then shifted over to the Philadelphia International label, where she really helped Philly soul find new direction moving into the 80s! Jean always brings all the sophistication of her roots into her music – making her way more than just another soul singer, and instead a vocalist with a great range of expression that has her opening up in just the right way, no matter what the setting. This excellent collection is filled with classics from her years on Philadelphia International, and also includes some rare 12" mixes and duets with other artists too. Titles include "Free Love", "No Laughing Matter", "Don't Let It Go To Your Head", "You Can't Come Back Now", "There's A Shortage Of Good Men", "Time Waits For No One", "Lonely Girl In A Cold Cold World", "Bet Your Lucky Star", We Got Some Catchin Up To Do", "When I Find You Love", "Was That All It Was (12" mix)", "What's On Your Mind (12" mix)", "Revelation/Infant Eyes", "Mystic Stranger", "Completeness", and "If You Don't Know Me By Now" – plus "I'm Back For More" with Al Johnson, "Sweet & Wonderful" with Glenn Jones, "You Might Be Surprised" with Roy Ayers, "Love Is Beautiful" and "Dreams Of Tomorrow" with Dexter Wansel, "Keep In Touch" and "The Look Of Love" with Grover Washington, and "Dindi", "Love's In Your Corner", and "Valentine Love" with Norman Connors. CD

A killer early set from The Commodores – and exactly the kind of record that shows why the group was so great at the start! Long before they were the giants of adult pop, the group were a tight funk act who were able to really balance mellow moments with more full-on grooves – a quality that meant they could slide into a warm harmony soul number at one point, then boom the bass right out of the box the next – all with a quality that at this point was light years ahead of most of their contemporaries! There's lots of modes here that other groups would cop more strongly in years to come – but the album's still better than any others that tried to imitate its strengths – thanks to classic cuts like "Hold On", "Free", "(Can I) Get A Witness", "Sweet Love", "Mary Mary", and "Gimme My Mule" – as well as the great spacey instrumental "Cebu", which has an excellent moogy Dexter Wansel-ish vibe! That cut alone is a major discovery for anyone who doesn't know the group at this point – and will show you that they can be totally hip when they want. LP, Vinyl record album

2 tracks off their Secrets album that really helped put them over, with a slick commercial funk sound on the a-side filled with pop bass and cascading horn lines, and some nice jazzy touches on the instrumental b-sidewith a bit of a Dexter Wansel-ish vibe. 7-inch, Vinyl record

Smooth early 80s work from Patti – a bit over the top at times, but nicely restrained at others. Despite the fact that Patti's in the hands of top Philly International talents like Gamble & Huff, and Dexter Wansel – the effort's still very much her own, in full diva mode over a range of styles, from uptempo to mellow. Titles include "Family", "Boats Against The Current", "Shoot Him On Sight", "Over The Rainbow", "The Spirit's In It", and "I Fell In Love Without A Warning". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic set of spacey club from Mandre – aka Andre Lewis – an artist we'd place right up there with some of the best cosmic sounds from Dexter Wansel at the time, and maybe even some of the more space-bound club artists of the European scene as well! The album's got some wonderful keyboards throughout – heard in a mostly instrumental mode on side one, save for a great track that includes vocals from Maxayn – and as the set rolls along, things get more confident, more groove-oriented, and pick up some bassier rhythms that fit in wonderfully with Mandre's overall conception! The album's got a fuzzy, trippy sound you'd hardly expect from late 70s Motown – and the whole thing's been an underground club classic for years – with cuts that include the sublime "Solar Flight (Opus I)" and "Third World Calling (Opus II)", plus "Keep Tryin", "Masked Music Man", "Wonder What I'd Do", "Money", "Dirty Love", and "Masked Marauder". CD

An album that shows Billy really finding his own in the Philly groove – working with his amazing ability to transform nearly any tune and make it his own with a deep, warm, jazz-styled approach to soul music that was unlike any other singer! Recorded at Sigma Sound and features arrangements and productions by Dexter Wansel alongside Jack Faith and Gamble & Huff, this album represents the Philly sound nicely. Includes the title track, a cover of McCartney's "Let 'Em In", "How Good is Your Game", Wansel's "Love Won't Come Easy", "Word Gets Around", and "I Think I'll Stay Home Today." CD

Miles Jaye once played the cop in the Village People, but don't hold that against him – because by the time of this debut set, he'd really crafted his style as a soul singer – which makes the record a key part of a new trend in male soul for the late 80s! Jaye's got a cool, sophisticated style – one that gets some nice warm touches on the arrangement and production, which include lots of touches from Miles himself – plus help from luminaries like Dexter Wansel, Hubert Eaves, and Branford Marsalis. Titles include "Lazy Love", "Special Thing", "I've Been A Fool For You", "Desiree", "Happy 2 Have U", "Come Home", "I Cry For You", and "Let's Start Love Over". CD